I am a practicing Christian. I go to church on Sundays (at a non-denominational church) and when I don't have to work I attend a Bible study on Wednesday nights. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus but I would hardly describe myself as a "Bible thumper." I like rock music and I see R rated movies. I read books and I sometimes question my own faith. I search for my own answers instead of allowing my pastor to tell me what to think. In terms of theology, I probably believe in a lot of the same basic tenants many evangelicals believe. Where I separate from them pretty forcefully is in the area of politics. My views there are much more in line with Tony Campolo's than Pat Robertson's.

I think what Christians should do is apply the teachings of Christ to their politics. This may make voting hard as it means people may not see eye to eye on every issue with one political party. It seems that most evangelicals today have got that idea backwards; they are applying their politics to the teachings of Jesus. Or in many cases they are ignoring the teachings of Jesus altogether as those ideas may conflict with their politics.

If you do go back and actually read the teachings of Jesus (Bono and I both recommend a new translation called The Message) you will find that abortion and gay marriage are not high on his agenda. In fact, Jesus never mentions either of these issues. He does, however, seem to be very interested in how we treat the poor. Jesus goes on the say that you will be able to tell who his real followers were by their spirit of kindness and generosity. Jesus never mentions bumperstickers or car emblems as the best ways for his followers to set themselves apart.

As the 2008 election rolls along, I am seeing right wing evangelicals twist themselves into greater fits of contortion in order to appease a political point of view that seems to me at odds with the teachings of Christ. One of the most glaring examples of this is James Dobson's Focus on the Family organization. I really believe that political power and influence have been very detrimental to this organization.

Friday morning, Sarah Palin was announced as the GOP candidate for vice president. Nobody had heard of her. John McCain had met her only once before. Immediately, right wing evangelicals and organizations like Focus on the Family praised her nomination because of her stance on gay marriage, abortion, and a host of other conservative positions.

Today we find out that Palin's 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant and will be getting married and having the baby. You know producers of Maury Povich's show are just dying to book the Palins for a paternity test show. And in an act truly worthy of Bizzaro World, these same evangelicals are still behind Palin. Conservative like Palin and Dobson oppose sex education in schools unless the only thing being taught is sexual abstinence. We know that approach doesn't work and Palin's daughter is our Exhibit A. Dobson today praised the Palin family because they did not abort the baby. At no point does he express any trepidation about the sexual activity of a minor child. In fact, Dobson makes it seem as if an unplanned pregnancy is standard operating procedure for every upper middle class American family, a minor little bump in the road. What about the abstinence? Doesn't an organization like Focus on the Family frown on kids being sexually active? Apparently they don't when the family in question agrees with them politically. Then kids can have as much unprotected, outside of marriage sex as they want just so long as nobody terminates a pregnancy. It's absolutely stunning to see this turn of events and see Dobson bend over backwards to justify the Palins just because they are political bedfellows.


Have we ever lived in a time when Christians were more unlikable or just flat out annoying?